1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method of maintaining and/or repairing a banknote validator using a network, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method of maintaining and/or repairing a banknote validator, capable of transmitting various information and data items from a banknote validator to a server through a network and transmitting various data items and software to optimize, maintain and/or repair a banknote validator from a server to the banknote validator through a network. The various data items and software may maintain and/or repair the banknote validator or optimize states of various sensors used in operating the banknote validator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, banknote validators are provided in banknote counting machines, vending machines, and automatic teller machines (ATM) to determine whether fed banknotes are forged ones, new ones, old ones, or damaged ones. For reference, the banknote validator described in the present specification covers all banknote counting machines with a banknote validating function and all banknote processing apparatuses with a banknote counting function as well as a banknote validation function. The banknote validators are used in business establishments dealing with checks and cash, such as a bank, a currency exchange office, a post office, a distribution store, a hotel, a department store, a convenience store, a casino, a cash transport firm, and a banknote sorting center, among others.
The banknote validators are sold and installed in various areas or countries all over the world without being limited to any particular area or country, are optimized using banknotes being actually circulated in a host country, and then, are used in the corresponding area or country. In order to optimize the banknote validators, the banknotes must be tested in the field using at least thousands of various banknotes such as newly issued ones, new ones, old ones, wrinkled ones, ones with holes, torn ones, scribbled ones, contaminated ones, bleached ones, and forged ones. However, since a manufacturer may not have sufficient types of the banknotes of the various areas or countries in which the banknote validators are to be used or installed, in an area or a country where the manufacturer is located, the banknote validators are commonly optimized in the host country or area. When a situation in which the banknote validators are used is changed, for example, when a new denomination of banknotes are issued, new forged banknotes are found, a new type of banknotes are found, operating states or set parameters of sensors are changed, or banknotes in new states are found, various sensors in the banknote validators must be periodically or non-periodically (e.g., on request) maintained and repaired in order to optimize the banknote validators so that the banknote validators may adequately operate in the changed situation.
Therefore, in a conventional art, the manufacturer must send many workers (or managers) to the host country for an unreasonably long time to maintain, repair and/or optimize the individual banknote validators, and the manager must connect a laptop computer to the banknote validator by a communication cable on the spot to execute predetermined application programs installed in the computer. Additionally or alternatively, the worker/manager must directly communicate with the banknote validator to obtain various data items from the banknote validator or to store results obtained by counting and validating the banknotes into the computer, to analyze the stored counting and validating results, to transmit such various data items to the manufacturer by e-mail, and to update the various data items. After the updated data items are received by e-mail and are stored in the laptop computer, the updated data items stored in the laptop computer are transmitted to the banknote validator to be updated or optimized. The expressions “various data items” and “updated data items” refer to one or more of forged banknote information, banknote fitness information, banknote images, parameter information, log data, serial numbers, sensing history data, sensor state data, counting data, measurement data of sensors, entire accumulated data, accumulated data since the most recently collected data. In addition, in the conventional art, in order to update the various data items and the software of the banknote validator, the manager stores the software to be updated in the laptop computer or an external-type memory such as a universal serial bus (USB) and a memory card, and then connects the laptop computer and the banknote validator by the communication cable, or connect the external-type memory to the banknote validator, to update or optimize the banknote validator.
As described above, in the conventional art, there have been many problems in that it is unreasonably complicated to update or optimize the various data items and the software of the banknote validator, it takes a long time to perform feedback, much cost and time are spent on storing in a database the collected various data items after visiting the host country, the worker/manager must always carry the laptop computer, the various data items and the software may not be updated or optimized when the laptop computer is not carried, not able to access the most recent data items and software, or an Internet access environment using the laptop computer is not good (for example, when a fixed IP must be set or a Wi-Fi access pass word must be input), or when it is not possible to check whether the stored software is the newest version. In addition, in the conventional art, when the various data items and the software of the banknote validator are stored in the laptop computer, if the laptop computer is lost or hacked, the stored various data items and software may be lost.
Background art to the present invention is disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0812254 (registered on Mar. 4, 2008 and entitled “Banknote Validator”).